Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor)

ZahidiK, Abdelaziz, Akchour, Abdellah, K, Serge Kreiter, TixierK, Marie-Stéphane, MsandaK, Fouad & MousadikK, Abdelhamid El, 2023, Phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Central West Morocco: new records and key to females of all recorded Moroccan species, Acarologia 63 (3), pp. 691-724 : 694-695

Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor)

Typhlodromus californicus McGregor, 1954: 89 .

Amblyseius californicus, Schuster & Pritchard 1963: 271 .

Cydnodromus californicus, Athias-Henriot 1977: 64 .

Amblyseius (Amblyseius) californicus, Ueckermann & Loots 1988: 150 ; Ehara et al. 1994: 126.

Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) californicus, Ehara & Amano 1998: 33 .

Neoseiulus californicus, Moraes et al. 1986: 73 , 2004a: 109 ; Chant & McMurtry 2003 a: 21, 2007: 25; Guanilo et al. 2008a: 27, 2008b: 19 ; sensu Athias-Henriot 1977, Beaulieu & Beard 2018: 469.

Typhlodromus mungeri McGregor, 1954: 92 (Synonymy according to Chant & McMurtry, 2003 a).

Typhlodromus chilenensis Dosse, 1958: 55 (Synonymy according to Chant & McMurtry, 2003 a).

Amblyseius wearnei Schicha 1987: 103 (Synonymy according to Tixier et al. 2014).

World distribution — Algeria, Argentina, Azores, Brazil, Canada, Canary Islands, Chile,

Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, France, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Mexico,

Morocco, Peru, Portugal, Reunion Island, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South

Korea, Spain, Syria, Taïwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Previous records from Morocco — This species has been reported from the Moroccan fauna by Kreiter et al. (2007). Several specimens were collected on many plants belonging to the families Malvaceae ( Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.), Rhamnaceae ( Ziziphus lotus L. (Lam)),

Anacardiaceae ( Pistacia lentiscus L.) and Asteraceae ( Calendula arvensis (M.) Bieb) and

Convolvulaceae ( Convolvulus althaeoides L.) ( Tixier et al. 2016).

Specimens examined — 8 ♀♀ + 3 ♂♂ on Convolvulus althaeoides L. ( Convolvulaceae )

in May 2017 and in July 2017 ; 4 ♀♀ on citrus leaves at Stah Al Madina orchard in 2018.

Remarks — Measurements and description of the adult females collected agree with those provided by Tixier et al. (2008) for specimens collected worldwide, by Ferragut et al. (2010)

for specimens from Spain and by Kreiter et al. (2020b) for specimens from La Réunion and various regions in the world. This is a very widespread species ( Demite et al. 2023), reported as generalist predatory mite ( Castagnoli and Simoni 2003). It can feed on Tetranychidae ( Ferragut et al. 2010 ; Gomez-Moya and Ferragut 2009), tarsonemid mites ( Easterbrook et al. 2001),

or small insects ( Rodriguez-Reina et al. 1992 ; Fraulo et al. 2008) and even pollen when the primary prey is unavailable ( Rhodes and Liburd 2005). Akchour et al. (2016, 2021) reported that N. californicus is considered as a potential agent to control Eutetranychus orientalis (Klein)

in citrus orchards in Souss region in central western of Morocco.